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'Golden visa' investment in November up 15% on year

Foreign investment in Portugal to secure ‘golden visas’ –fast-tracked residence permits for large-scale investors – was in November up 14.6% on the same month of 2016, at €54.5 million, according to figures released on Wednesday by the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF).

Investment from the Residence Authorisation for Investment Activity (ARI), as the programme is officially known, totalled €54,589,213.55 in November, against €47,597,866.42 a year earlier.

SEF did not provide data making it possible to calculate the change on October this year, saying in response to requests by Lusa on the subject only that figures were available for the three months to October.

In November, most of the investment was once more into property, at €52,370,344.79, while capital transfers totalled €2,218,968.76.

Last month 93 ‘golden visas’ were issued, of which all but two were on the basis of property purchases. Of those 91 for property, 14 related to urban rehabilitation, for which the threshold for investment is lower, under rules in force since September 2015.

Up until November a total of 77 residence permits had been issued for rehabilitation, with the first having been issued in July last year.

The cumulative total of investment for ‘golden visas’ of all types, which began being issued in October 2012, is €3.38 billion. So far 5,196 permits have been issued based on property purchases, 301 for capital transfers and eight for the creation of at least 10 jobs.

China leads the ranking in terms of countries whose citizens have been issued the permits, with 3,575 so far, followed by Brazil with 463, South Africa with 216, Russia with 192 and Lebanon with 108.

Since 2013 there have also been 9,212 permits issued allowing family members to join the ‘golden visa’ holders.

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